“It doesn’t seem like there’s the emphasis on cursive handwriting today that there was when I was in school,” said Lisa Donohoe, Shelby’s mom.
“We do have a curriculum for cursive handwriting as part of our SLEs (Student Learning Expectations),” said Mary Ellen Maske, executive administrator for elementary education for the Cedar Rapids school district.The district uses the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting curriculum, which introduces cursive handwriting in third grade, and practice in fourth and fifth grades.The goal is 10 to 15 minutes of cursive handwriting instruction each day
Iowa is among 42 states and the District of Columbia, to have adopted the Common Core State Standards for English, which omits cursive handwriting from the required curriculum.
A 2009 study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C., cites cursive as important for cognitive development because it “requires fluid movement, eye-hand coordination and fine motor skill development.
Aren't there better ways to develop eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills? Note taking? Seriously?
“We tell our students ‘We’re teaching you this style, but as you get older, you’ll develop your own style,’” said Thea Thies, a fourth-grade teacher at East Elementary School in Waukon. “That’s the fun part.”
Thies said she cites historical documents and handwriting analysis as examples of cursive handwriting in effort to increase her students’ enthusiasm of the subject.
three-year initiative to fund an instructional system and 24 online courses--a "complete, foundational system of instruction" to be developed by Pearson--covering K-12 English/language arts and K-10 math. One course will be provided for each grade level. Four of those courses--two in each subject area in the early to middle high school grade levels--will be contributed as free and open resources through Gates Foundation funding "with the intent of widening access and spurring innovation around the Common Core,"
the courses will be "designed to engage and motivate" students and will incorporate social networking, gaming, video, and simulation, coupled with assessment and teacher professional development, both online and blended.
Conning said the initial group of courses will be made available in 2013, "before the Common Core Standards are implemented." She also said the courses will be field-tested in a variety of districts beginning in the late fall with some individual units. The complete system of courses is expected to be completed in December 2013 and ready for the 2014-2015 school year,
Gates and Pearson foundations partner to develop online courses developed around the common core standards in language arts and math for K-12 students (one for each grade level).